Sunday, May 6, 2018

Fractured by Karin Slaughter

Title: Fractured

Series: Will Trent #2

Author: Karin Slaughter

Publisher: Random House

With its gracious homes and tree-lined streets, Ansley Park is one of Atlanta's most desirable neighborhoods. But in one gleaming mansion, in a teenager's lavish bedroom, a girl has been savagely murdered. And in the hallway, her horrified mother stands amid shattered glass, having killed her daughter's attacker with her bare hands.

Detective Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is here only to do a political favor; the murder site belongs to the Atlanta police. But Trent soon sees something that the cops are missing, something in the trail of blood, in a matrix of forensic evidence, and in the eyes of the shell-shocked mother. Within minutes, Trent is taking over the case -- and adding another one to it. He is sure that another teenage girl is missing, and that a killer is on the loose.

Armed with only fleeting clues, teamed with a female cop who has her own personal reasons for hating him, Trent has enemies all around him -- and a gnawing feeling that this case, which started in the best of homes, is cutting quick and deep through the ruins of perfect lives broken wide-open: where human demons emerge with a vengeance.

“You see cases as puzzles and whatever it is that’s so different in your brain makes it possible for you to solve them the way no one else can.”

Fractured is my favorite book by Karin Slaughter so far and it all has to do with the amazing Will Trent. As a character, he's definitely someone unforgettable.

In this new book, Will Trent and Amanda Wagner, his boss are called into a murder scene. At first, Will thinks this is going to stay under the jurisdiction of the police department but when a girl is found missing and the clock is ticking, Trent will do anything to find her.

Will is not going to be able to do everything by himself. Amanda assigns Faith Mitchell, a detective with the Georgia Police Department to help him out. Due to a past conflict with Amanda's mom, Amanda isn't thrilled to work with Will but she wants to find the lost teenager as much as Will does.

Fractured had all the best components to make it a success. It's told from a dual POV which shines a light into what the main characters are feeling. From it, we learn more about Will's issues. Despite being a very smart man, he still feels threatened by his past and his shortcomings. He tries to disguise them as much as he can. He's used to working alone and when Amanda tells him he has to work with Faith, he doesn't know how to react at the beginning. He makes assumptions and mistakes but not on purpose.

His private life is still a mess. He's engaged to Angie Polanski but from what I read, I think he deserves much better. Thankfully, Angie doesn't have a lot of page time.

“Talk about sloppy seconds. Was there such a thing as sloppy thousandths?”

I like to see Will's vulnerable side and nothing is clearer for me than the love for his dog Betty. He was forced to take her in but now she has become his companion. Will takes better care of her than of himself.

Faith was a great addition to the story. She got pregnant way too young. Her son is in college. She doesn't have a college education but she's a good detective and like Will, she only wants to find Emma Campano before is too late.

I just bought Undone. I'm excited to see what is coming next for Will and Faith.